Steel and Glass
by Orange Headphones
Summary: When a defeated Hao stumbles into Yoh's party, he tells them of an evil greater than him.  Could something like that possibly be conquered?
1. The Knowledge

At one time, Hao was probably the toughest foe I had ever faced. However, one day I learned that there was someone stronger than him, much stronger. It still makes me shudder to think about him.

Returning from getting the day's groceries, I had been listening to music. Albeit the load I was carrying was heavier than usual, the music was good enough to ease it. Bob can do wonders for anyone. Oddly enough, the music ended when I got inside, just in time to talk to Anna.

I greeted her with a smiling, "Hi there."

She smiled back and said, "Well hello to you too. How'd your day go?"

"It was different than most."

"Tell me about it."

"I've been missing the old group more than usual. It's been too long since I've seen them."

"Yup, and don't forget that you'll have a chance to talk with them when they get here tonight."

"Wait a second. That's _tonight_?"

"You got it."

And with that, the door was practically knocked down by the group of my friends. The first one through the door was the ever-dense Horohoro. The blue-haired Ainu said to me, "If you break up with her can I have Anna?"

Immediately he was met with the legendary left, and was subsequently knocked out. Anna yelled at him, "Don't you ever say things like that. Yoh is my husband you baka." I almost forgot that it had been almost a year since Anna and I were married, or as I like to call it, the best year to that point.

The others stepped over him except for one purple-haired Chinese shaman known as Tao Ren, who never seemed to get along with Horohoro, who decided to step on his back. The two of them then got into a huge fight.

After that, the gathering went as usual as it gets with my friends until something completely unexpected happened. At the height of this celebration, a disheveled and pathetic-looking form entered my home. Only after he fell down did I recognize him as my twin brother Hao. In his weakened and unconscious form Ren fired up the suggestion for us to attack him, but I was the only one who stopped him.

I said to them, "Why should we do this to him? True, he was a cruel and sadistic person, but he sure as hell couldn't still be in this bad of shape from his fight with me a few years back. Someone must have attacked and seriously injured him. He probably came here for some assistance, and if we are to call ourselves 'good guys' then we should help him out."

A series of nodding heads and intent stares followed my little speech, and oddly enough, as soon as I was done speaking Hao regained consciousness. After he woke up, we were asking right and left about what happened.

Hao seemed pretty confused by all of this, but he managed to at least say, "You want to know what happened to me? He's the most powerful shaman that I've ever seen. Before he blasted me out here, he said to me, 'I will be the end of you.' If it weren't for the Spirit of Fire, I might not be warning you about him."

Anna spoke up, "Tell us about him. Who is he?"

Hao resumed, "No one sees his face; it's hidden behind a mask in the shape of a giant 'X'. He stands somewhere between my brother and Pompadour. Be warned, he is very sneaky; I didn't see his knockout punch coming."

It was about time that I spoke up, "So then I guess we'll have to go and take this guy down ourselves."

My astounded brother replied, "Did you hear what I said?"

I told him, "Yeah, he blasted you clear over here."

"I WASN'T IN JAPAN!"

"Well, we'll still have to go after him. All we need to do is work together, and we can beat this, this; Hao, what did you say his name was?"

"He called him self Steel Akuma"

"Right, so let's go after this Steel guy."

It was then that Ryu asked, "Master Yoh, where do we go to find this Steel?"

"Um, yeah… do you know where he is, Hao?"

After everyone recovered from my lack of intelligence, Hao told me, "I last saw him around Patch Village."

'In Patch Village, why would he be in Patch Village?' I wondered.

Quickly, we returned to Patch Village, or at least what was Patch Village.


	2. An Encounter

It was a sorry desolate site. What was once a prosperous village for the Shaman Tournament had become a place where you were lucky to see anything that wasn't in ruins. One could almost see the looks on our faces.

In this setting there was barely a sign of life. The only sign of life was a figure lying face-down, half-covered by the ruins. Looking closer, I gasped, because it was Silva, the official that helped teach me the ropes when I was going through the Shaman Fight.

I rushed over to him and asked, "Silva, what happened?"

Weakly, he responded, "Yoh? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Beware the power of that Steel Akuma. In his immense anger towards us, he more or less destroyed our home, and took the others with him. Yoh you must stop him, because if you don't it will be worse than when Hao tried to win the Shaman Tournament."

I nodded in agreement, then asked him, "Do you know where he went to?"

"Unfortunately, I do not know where he went to, but I'm sure it's someplace that you'd expect him to be found in. Good luck."

I told the rest of our group what Silva had told me, for the man was too weak to speak in much louder than a whisper, preventing eavesdropping from nearly anyone. All except Hao lowered their eyebrows in anger, Steel had to be stopped. We all were ready to destroy him.

The question became where to find Steel. His location was no longer Patch Village or the area surrounding it, so where could it be? Was he in Japan? No, we'd have known if there was a shaman that powerful around. Only a few of our group had any idea where to find Steel: Tamao and Lyserg.

While neither of the two of them knew where Steel was, they could see if their spirits could help them to find him, considering the situation at hand. When Tamao attempted to see what the future said regarding Steel, she was told that he would be the ultimate foe yet and the most dangerous one, but nothing more. Lyserg's results showed that there was a considerable amount of shaman energy located in the general direction of the west, yet not in Japan.

Ren's expression quickly changed from its usual confident demeanor to an expression of fear, considering the only place that he knew to the west, beyond Japan, was his home China. If this Steel was there in China, his family was in immediate danger. It was not so much for most of his family that he cared; it was for Jun, his sister.

Quickly, the group returned to China, to the Tao's region. The area still looked somewhat the same, but it wasn't quite what it used to be; it was less inviting than before. A different feel in general pervaded the scene, with Ren quickly realizing it and rushing off towards the complex his family lived in, without letting the rest of us catch up to him.

In the house, he saw a figure he did not recognize, an intimidating man with a steel mask. The strange man rudely sneered at Ren, saying, "You Taos bore me. Your strength is nothing to me. Now get out of my way!"

With that the man threw an unseen object at the ground, and disappeared in an instant. Ren was just left there stunned, as we found him there a few minutes later. His confident, bordering on cocky and arrogant, attitude was replaced with a shocked expression.

Before we could ask him exactly what happened, we saw a few unfamiliar people, with a familiar person as their hostage, Jun Tao. These new people were not too intimidating at first look, but it quickly seemed that they would not be that simple to deal with, as these three guys turned out to be shaman, each with a unique style and spirit. The first was a swarthy bearded man with a pirate spirit hovering over him. The second was a Russian man with a Cossack spirit floating behind him, staring evilly at us. The third of them, a toga-clad man, had a Roman warrior spirit behind him.

There was no question that these were legitimate shaman, for off the bat, they cast their spirits into their mediums: a rusty sword, a polished sword, and a bloody sword. Quickly in form to face them was Ryu, most likely motivated by an infatuation for Jun. There was no doubt that he was ready to take on three shamans at once.

Before the rest of us could attempt to join in the fight, Ryu solemnly said, "No. Let me handle this one Master Yoh. Anyone who dares do this to Miss Jun deserves what I will give them, just wait and see."

While the four prepared for battle, Ren snuck around the fighting and untied his sister from the ropes that bound her and quickly took her outside of the building. I decided to follow Ren outside to see exactly what had happened.

Once out of the sight of the three henchmen, Jun quickly hugged her brother with such an embrace that barely allowed the poor boy the ability to breathe. Quickly, she said to him, "Thank you. I don't know what he would have done to me if you and your friends hadn't come.

Ren, a bit confused, asked Jun, "Who's he?"

Jun, jarred by that question said to Ren, "Oh, he's horrible, just horrible. That man told me that the only reason he had come to someone like me was to use me as bait to bring you here, to bring the Asakuras here."

"I think I know who he is. Did this man have a steel mask on his face?"

"I don't know, he came in the middle of the night and caught me by surprise. I never saw his face; I only heard his voice. It was the voice of a man looking to destroy everything that stood in his path, a man bent on destruction. He seems one strong enough to succeed at it too."

After checking around to see if Steel had any more of his minions around, I told the two of them to come back inside. However, before they would come with me, the rest of the group came out and told me of the news.

Through Ryu's explanation, I learned that the three shamans he was fighting simultaneously retreated, saying that 'Master Steel' ordered them to, simply because they no longer had the hostage they acquired at the Tao stronghold.

From there, we again tried to find out where Steel could be. Unfortunately, significant energy readings came from all four directions: north, south, east, and west. Despite the fact that it would weaken our overall strength, I decided to split us up into four groups to cover each direction: Ryu with Jun and Ren, Hao with Lyserg, Horohoro with Tamao, and Anna with me.


	3. Pink and Blue

Horohoro and Tamao ventured off west. At first, they both were silent, not because they were completely focused or because of any negative feelings. It was that Horohoro had never been alone with a girl except for his sister, who he would rather avoid at times. He simply didn't know how to act around girls. On the other hand, Tamao just didn't often talk much; she was just too shy at times.

At last Horohoro broke the silence, asking Tamao, "So why do you think that Yoh put us together? He's probably got some reason for this reasoning."

She shrugged her shoulders as a response, equally unsure about my reasoning for putting them together.

"Well, I don't know either. All in all, I don't mind traveling with someone like you. You're a really nice girl," he said in an attempt to compliment her.

Tamao still remained relatively quiet, blushing and saying only a small, "Thank you."

Unfortunately, Horohoro couldn't get much more out of Tamao for the rest of that day; she was just too quiet (in sharp contrast to the Horohoro I know). Soon the two stopped for the night, ready to set out again in the morning after a much needed sleep. Tamao really had a bad feeling about that night, and frankly I couldn't blame her; usually her predictions and feelings come out being correct.

After Horohoro had fallen asleep, a cold, menacing wind blew through their location. Coupled with the pure darkness of that night (without the moon visible in the sky), Tamao was completely frozen to her spot with fear. One could almost hear the lightning strike in the distance that only added to the terror of the night. Only one thing could make it worse: Steel.

From the relative silence, a voice called out to her, saying, "Tamao."

Gasping in fear, all she could muster was a shuddered, "Y-y-yes?" She then knew that Steel was the one who had come to her camp. He was somehow even scarier than my brother was.

He started, "Don't be afraid, my dear. It's only me."

She could not do a thing, simply stuck to her spot.

Somewhat cruelly, he told her, "I've come to bring you some good news, little girl."

Figuring it was best that she responded quickly, Tamao squeaked out, "W-wh-what is it?"

Calculatingly, he revealed to Tamao, "Your chance to fulfill your dream is at hand. Soon enough you will be able to do that. I know how precious Yoh is to you." It seemed as if he were making a serious threat.

Out of curiosity, fear, and courage, she asked, "What have you done?"

"Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out, isn't it?" he deviously taunted.

She again had no response, frozen.

Directing his malice towards her, he said, "I urge you to not interfere with my plans anymore, lest you want to forfeit your lives. I'll be in the place you least expect."

With that, the masked figure left Tamao in her state of shock. For the remainder of the night, all she could do was stare at the sky, eyes wide open, mumbling something to the extent of, "No, he couldn't have."

In the morning, Horohoro found Tamao in that same condition: still in a state of shock and mumbling that same phrase. He shook her to try and stop her from doing that, telling her, "Tamao, what's wrong here?"

After a few hours, Horohoro had managed to shake Tamao from the silence that caused her to shudder incessantly. After she realized what exactly was happening around her, she cried on Horohoro's shoulder.

Again, Horohoro asked for Tamao to explain what exactly had happened.

"I…I…he came last night," she finally managed to force out of her mouth with much effort.

"What happened? Who came last night?" Horohoro asked as a concerned friend, caring for Tamao's well-being.

"Steel came. He said he did something to Yoh, something terrible and awful, something he says I would want. I don't know what that might be, but I know that it can't be good. We've got to go and find Yoh."

The Ainu boy agreed and nodded his head. The two of them abruptly set out towards the direction that Anna and I had gone to in silence, only this time their silence was a determined silence to help the ones that they cared for so much, the people that mattered most. If something terrible had happened to me, they felt the entire mission was in jeopardy.


	4. Ryu, Ren, and Jun

Meanwhile, going in the opposite direction (east), the threesome of Ren, Jun, and Ryu arose, unaware of what had happened. As they awoke, Jun was surprised to find that Ryu was waiting just outside her quarters, waiting to see her after she had woken up. However, she wasn't surprised to see Ren standing there, making sure he didn't do anything he shouldn't.

They quickly set out on their way in a relatively fixed manner: Ryu fawning over Jun, Ren watching them while being his usual cocky and arrogant self, and Jun not sure how to react. While this way of transportation was nowhere near orthodox or relatively comfortable, they quickly reached their destination for the day.

After they settled for the night, the uncomfortable silence had been broken by none other than the self-proclaimed leader of this group, Tao Ren. Speaking to Ryu, he said, "Don't do anything you might regret," in reference to his sister.

Ryu became enraged and told him, "What do you think I'm going to do?"

"Simple. I think you're going to make a fool out of yourself."

"Why you little-"

Before any fighting could ensue, Jun stepped in between the two of them. Establishing herself as a powerful force to the two other shamans gathered with her, she yelled, "Shut up!"

Somewhat shocked at Jun's outburst, Ren and Ryu simply obeyed her command. Though neither of them liked each other very much, they figured that they should keep the peace for a while, at least.

Jun continued, "Listen to me. You know just as well as I do that Yoh assembled us for the purpose of looking for that accursed Steel." For a brief moment, Jun shuddered in remembrance of that terrible presence. "If we can't keep peace and semblance between the three of us, then what hope do we have if we encounter him?"

Knowing that her point was significant, the other two looked at each other. Reluctantly, Ryu asked, "Truce?" extending his hand.

In a somewhat annoyed fashion, Ren said, "This is only a truce until this 'Steel' is brought down. After that, all bets are off."

Without much sincerity, Ren shook the hand of Ryu, making the temporary truce official. Jun sighed, believing that the fact that the two of them had to resort to such a measure in order to get along for a few days was simply absurd.

As it happened with Horohoro and Tamao, Steel came to visit one of the members of this small group. I really feel bad for Jun; after all, she was the one who tried to set up order amongst the three of them.

The night was cold and had a strangely ominous feel to it. Feeling something brush up against her, Jun groggily opened her eyes and looked around. After a brief moment, she realized that it was Steel again. Seeing his metallic mask, Jun was taken aback in surprise, but when she heard his voice and cold laughter, she knew that it was him.

"Well," he began, "it seems that we meet again, Jun."

A bit surprised, Jun asked, "How did you find me again?"

Taunting her, he said, "Let's just say I have my ways of finding what I want." Again, he maliciously chuckled to himself.

Starting to get a little scared, Jun asked, "What do you want here?"

Getting down to business, Steel told her, "I don't want you to keep trying to find me; if you keep getting in my way like this, I'll be left with no other option but to kill you. Do you understand me?"

Jun gulped and then slowly nodded to Steel, finding herself too shocked to respond.

"Good. Now I suggest that you listen to what I said and go back to where you came from."

With that, Steel seemed to vanish into the night. Though she was not as deeply affected by his presence as Tamao was at first, this second encounter really affected Jun. I wish she wasn't so fear-struck after that second encounter.

As dawn rose, Ren woke up slowly. Shaking his head to free himself from the tiredness that still remained, Ren spotted Jun, still stuck to the spot she was in before. Quickly, he saw that she was petrified with fear.

Impulsively, Ren thought that Ryu was behind whatever had happened to Jun. Shaking Ryu, Ren waited for the tall, pompadour-wearing Shaman to rise, instinctively holding his kwan dao mere inches from Ryu's head.

When Ryu opened his eyes, seeing Ren's powerful weapon hanging in front of his visage shocked him into full awareness. Choosing to go backwards before standing up, Ryu stood, shocked.

Ren got right down to his point, asking in an annoyed tone, "Ryu, what did you do to my sister?"

Being perfectly unknowing, Ryu asked, "What are you talking about, Ren?"

Pointing at his sister, Ren said, "Take a look for yourself."

Seeing Jun, the color drained from Ryu's face as he went over to her to see what was wrong. All Ryu heard was Jun muttering, "Steel…danger…Yoh…"

Ren again asked, "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Then how did she get in this kind of a state?"

"How am I supposed to know? She's just muttering about Steel."

Finally taking in what Jun was saying, Ren thought a moment and then, swallowing his pride for a moment, said, "Ryu, let's get her back to Yoh, he'll know what to do."

Rapidly, Ryu and Ren each took one of Jun's hands and led her in the direction that Ren and Tamao had gone: towards me. They hoped they could get to where I was quickly enough.


	5. Hao and Lyserg

Of the three other groups, the only one that wasn't looking for me then was the group headed in the opposite direction of me: the group of Hao and Lyserg. I knew that Lyserg hated my twin brother greatly, and that's probably why they said and did nothing even remotely social on their way southward, looking for Steel.

By day, they walked in silence; neither had a word to say to the other. Each of them felt such a deep hatred for the other that they didn't even think of the reason that I put them together. Even though they deemed themselves mortal enemies, I knew that between the two of them, we had one of our most powerful groups. However, the real reason I put them together was to try and have them come to an understanding about the past. Needles to say, that wasn't working well.

However, Lyserg somewhat impulsively shouted more at Hao than to him, "Why are you still here?"

In a somewhat venomous mood, Hao responded, "Do you think I _want_ to spend my time with you? I'd rather be slowly burned alive by the Spirit of Fire. However, my brother told me that I've got to stay with you, and I'll give him a chance then. Just don't get on my bad side."

Sometimes, hatred leads to even more bitter moments than one expects, and that was the case that soon happened, as Hao and Lyserg continued to shout threats at each other throughout the rest of the day. I won't go into what they said, just because it's much too foul and really doesn't need to (and shouldn't) be said again.

Regardless, nightfall descended upon the opposite group. Somewhat gladly, the two of them set down to go to sleep for the night. Neither wanted to hear what the other had to say about him; while it was repetitive, the stinging words only seemed to create more seperation between the two shamans.

Slowly, the same ominous wind that had blown throughout the camps of Horohoro and Tamao, as well as that of Ren, Jun, and Ryu blew through this camp of bitter enemies. Upon that night, the sky itself seemed to say that something deadly was lurking in the shadows.

For the third time, Steel had come to a camp and decided to spread his terror upon the people in it. This time, he set out to torment my brother. I know Hao has done some bad things in the past, but I don't think that anyone deserves the terrors of the power of Steel.

He called out to Hao, "Fire boy, come here."

Being alert, Hao realized where the voice was coming from; he knew Steel was trying to play with him. Irritably, he asked, "What do you want?"

The unseen shaman shunned my brother, "You shouldn't talk to me like that."

Indignantly, Hao responded, "Why shouldn't I? I'm not afraid of you."

"I know you're not _afraid_ of me, but I have a feeling that you will be in a little while. I think you remember how I took you, supposedly one of the most powerful shamans in the world, and sent you straight from America all the way over to Japan." Steel quit playing with Hao, and decided he would finally start to show his true side. "I could kill you in an instant if I so desired, but I feel I should eliminate all you Askauras at the same time. Or maybe I should just kill the others first."

Even though he's had his grudges with me, I know that Hao really cares for me, as he promptly attempted to threaten Steel. He told the shaman he had not yet found the location of, "Listen here, Steel Akuma, if you mess with my brother, or Anna, I swear I'll kill you."

Menacingly, he said, "You and what army, little Hao? You don't stand a chance against me. You're not even remotely close to my level of power. But tonight I feel generous; I'll let you live, but I won't say anything about the other Asakuras. I think it would be wise for you to return to your roots. You Asakuras disgust me."

Unlike with others, Steel knew that Hao was too indignant and rebellious to legitimately cringe in fear, so he made sure that Hao was unconscious before he left. Using a mass of spiritual energy, he directed it in a form that not even Hao could sense, and once he realized where it was coming from, it was too late.

The next morning, Lyserg was ready to resume his bitter talk, but he first found Hao in a crumpled position several feet away. When he actually went to see Hao, he roused him bitterly, saying, "Get up, you."

Coming to his senses, Hao nearly reacted with a fist to the jaw of Lyserg, but instead, he said, "Shut up. We're not fighting today. We're going to go see my brother."

Unbelieving, Lyserg asked, "What are you talking about?"

As if it were an annoying daily occurrence, Hao said, "Steel was here last night. I think he's going to do something to Yoh, so I'm going to go back to where he is. You're free to join me if you wish to."

Since Hao was so blunt, Lyserg accepted what Hao said, not so much based on whether or not he believed it to be true, but more on the chance that he could be freed of solitary company with the shaman who had caused him so much pain and bitterness. The two set out to the north to try and find me, hoping something bad hadn't happened yet.


	6. Anna and Me

I realize that my group was the only one left, the one everybody had started to go towards. Well, Anna and I had continued to go northwards, looking for Steel and hoping to find him. During the day, Anna and I were very businesslike; I guess the habits of her training had finally started to work in my usual life.

At night, things were a different story. That night when we settled down for the evening, she came over and lied down in my arms. I felt so calm there, but before I could softly kiss the top of her head, she told me something.

"Yoh?" she said, almost asking a question.

"Yes?" I responded, unsure of what was going to conspire.

Softly, she told me, "I've got some news for you, rather for us."

My eyes widened up somewhat and I asked her, "What exactly do you mean, Anna-chan?"

It took her a few moments to say so, but she was able to tell me (though barely louder than a whisper), "We're going to have a baby."

I, for that moment, forgot that I was busy chasing down a shaman who was easily more powerful than my brother was. No; for that moment, I thought of how wonderful life would be after this little adventure. I loved Anna and I knew that she loved me; now that we were married, I thought that starting a family would be a wonderful thing for us to do.

That's not to say that I wasn't a little shocked, because when I heard the news I momentarily held Anna a little too hard out of startled surprise. That definitely wasn't the news I expected to hear from Anna. A bit skeptically, I asked, "Really?" like a little kid in a candy store.

For a moment, I received Anna's old glare. After softening her gaze, she told me, "Yes, we'll have our first, Yoh."

The air was so tender that night that I could have kissed her for what seemed like ages. However, that was not meant to be, because I suddenly was dealt a blow to the back of the head. The energy in that blow could only have come from Steel, because I at least would recognize Hao's power.

I wasn't unconscious, but I was certainly incapacitated at that time. I saw everything and could only watch it with horror-struck eyes.

First, he chuckled menacingly, saying more in my direction than to me, "That's what you get, you filthy Asakura." Then he turned his attention to Anna, telling her, "I had a feeling that there was another one of you coming; it'll soon be time that I take care of all of you Asakuras."

Before Anna could offer a resistance to the mighty shaman, Steel grabbed her and vanished in front of my eyes. Never in my life had I felt so furious. Not only had I let myself be taken by surprise in battle by the man I was looking for, but he had the audacity to kidnap my wife, not to mention that he did just when I'd let my guard down. He had shattered me for that moment, shattered me like steel against glass.

I don't think I could have done anything for the rest of that night; I just lied there, thinking about the events that had happened over the span of those two minutes. Not even Amidamaru could have roused me out of this state of shock and a shattered mindset.

Thank goodness that the other groups reached me the next day; otherwise I might not have been able to pull myself together. Strangely enough, it seemed that all seven of my other companions on this journey happened to coincide with me at roughly the same time.

Genuinely trying to find out what happened to me, Tamao first asked, "Master Yoh, what happened?"

I could only barely manage to say, "He took Anna."

She quickly realized what it was that Steel meant when he said that he was giving her the chance to fulfill her dreams. Still, it wasn't worth it to her to have a shattered me instead of having me stay with Anna. She hugged me with care and tried to tell me good things.

However, Ren wasn't one to take any kind of emotion like this. Snapping, he more yelled than said, "So what if he took her?"

In an equally angry manner, I yelled back at him, "You don't understand. He didn't just take Anna, he also took my child."

Even Ren was left somewhat speechless at that time, but everybody has their limit. Hao, knowing what was good for me, came over and slapped me like Anna would have done if she were there.

As strange as it seems, after he did that, I wasn't angry anymore, neither was I shattered; I felt whole again. Anna would have done the same thing and told me to pull myself together. Speaking calmly, I said to the others gathered, "Thank you for doing that for me. You're right; I've got to pull myself together. We've got to find Steel."

At that the others nodded again, but we had no idea where he was. However, I then realized that Steel must have come to some of the others, and from there we might have some clue as to where to go from there.

After asking who Steel had visited, I saw that Tamao, Jun, and Hao came forward and admitted to the fact. From there, I asked them to recount anything that he might have said that would clue us in on his location.

Tamao stated, "He told me, inadvertently, that he would take Anna away from you, but he also said that he'd be in the place that I'd least expect."

Jun then presented her testimony, saying, "Well, I remember that he threatened death to all of us, but that goes without saying. I'd know just based on his aura. He told me to go back where I came from."

Finally, Hao told his story, saying, "He told me, before he knocked me out, that it would be best for us to return to our roots. I don't know what that might mean, but I'm sure it's got some meaning."

Nobody could come up with any sort of solution of where Steel might have been telling us to go, but then Ryu of all people came up with the answer, displaying the kind of hidden intellect that seemed to suit him. He said only two words, "Funbari Hill."


	7. Finding Steel

Immediately, I realized that Ryu was correct; it would be fitting for Steel to hide where we once considered our strongpoint. After all, he was so twisted that something like that might just appeal to him for one demented reason or another. I only hoped that he hadn't done something to Anna before we got there.

I motioned the others for us to get on our way; we had precious seconds that we might lose in an instant if we didn't hurry and try to find our way over to get to Funbari Hill. I know I was being a bit hasty, but I didn't have the time to really consider that; I was only doing what any good husband would do when he has a say in what happens to his wife.

None of the others disagreed with my motion to quickly make our way out, but it seemed that we would need a plan in order to try and combat Steel, that devil of a man. I only hoped that we could figure that out when we were waiting to get over to our location. If not, we might be lucky enough to come up with a strategy in battle (but I hoped that it wouldn't come to that).

On our somewhat long journey, which seemed like days instead of hours to me, we came up with the idea to fight in a quick manner; each would try to find a weak point upon Steel and try to use it to attack him, or at the very least try to slow him down. We knew that if we could slow him down to our level, then we might have a chance in fighting him, but it still would be a difficult fight.

At last, we reached Funbari, and I ran as fast as I could, dodging everything in my path in an attempt to try and get to the inn, hoping to get there before Steel could do anything to Anna. However, this was where my great hast finally came and caught me.

As soon as I ran into the inn, I noticed that I was not in Funbari any more. Instead, I was in a new room, a place that looked hewn from the stones of Patch Village. I saw a number of high rocks strewn about the large arena-like room I was in, and I saw a figure robed by the darkness waiting upon the ledge of the highest rock.

"Steel!" I yelled when I realized it was him. Getting a closer look, I saw that he was holding Anna in his right hand, and then I yelled with more fury, "Give her back, you monster!"

He turned to me, knowing it would only anger me further, he merely laughed. His laugh can still ring in my ears sometimes; it was a cold and bitterly mocking laugh that no person should ever have to hear. Unfortunately, it did have the adverse effect that he hoped it would have on me.

Calling on Amidamaru, who happened to be with me at the time, I grabbed Harusame and tried to create my strongest oversoul possible. However, as I wasn't quite calm or in my right mind (two necessary facets of my fighting style), I could not bring Amidamaru to any level higher than into Harusame alone, relatively weakly as well.

In that blind rage of mine, I could do nothing but look at what little chance I had, and I knew that I couldn't defeat Steel with such a meager attack, but my mind did not want me to believe that truth; it kept me from being sensible. I only wanted to take my revenge on Steel.

The mighty Steel merely snapped his fingers and the three shamans from before appeared. They were easily weaker than I was, but I wouldn't let them have the fair chance I normally had. I instead turned with my brother's glare and utterly destroyed them. I don't exactly know how it happened or why it happened, but I know that they were all on the ground before I knew what happened.

Steel didn't seem utterly impressed. He knew that they were weaker thugs, and with the draining strength of anger, they could fall to a shaman like me. It almost seemed as if he planned that attack to fail so easily.

Leaving Anna up on his pedestal of a rock, Steel leapt down, letting the black cape that had obscured him flutter away. This was when I got my first look at him, and he frankly scared me. His height wasn't the intimidating thing about him (even though he was taller than me), it was his face, or rather the lack of being able to see a face that scared me.

I looked at him and saw the mask and little else. He had small slits where his eyes and mouth could peek out to get sight and air, but that was where his link to humanity ended. The rest of the mask covered his face, but it was deathly white with a menacing red "X" protruding from the corners of the mask, as if to say, "You've run out of luck."

"I'm surprised you've made it this far, _Asakura_," he bitterly scoffed, trying to use my name against me.

"I don't have time for your games or your insults, Steel," I yelled at him. "Give me back Anna and we can all go home."

"Even in your anger you're a fool, Askaruka. You do deserve to die." Suddenly taking on a more aggressive attitude, he said (almost with pleasure), "I'd be glad to be the one to get rid of your kind."

"Enough talk, Steel. Let's fight," I said in great anxiousness to fight against this incarnation of darkness.

Steel merely leapt back and opened his arms, taunting me to make the first attack. As shot as my senses were, I couldn't help but try and attack him; it was just too good of a chance. So I lunged after him, but I soon found out that my attempt to attack him was nothing more than an empty attack.

Just before I was to make solid contact with him, Steel's mask began to glow and the red "X" seemed to emit an aura of its own and came out of the mask to counter my attack. Not only did the oversoul stop my attack, it threw me back and to the ground.

When I was on my back, Steel asked, "Are you willing to give up now, scum?"

I gritted my teeth and said, "I will never give up to the likes of you, monster."

I leapt back up, my rage flowing stronger then ever. I don't know why, but his insults kept making me angrier, almost in hatred. In blind rage, I again charged after Steel, meeting the same result. However, my furyoku was at its end, and I knew I couldn't fight another shaman without any of it.

I had lost, and it somehow allowed me to calm down a little bit. I was still angry, but I was again calm. If I could let my furyoku come back to me somehow, I might be able to fight with him, but that was not the situation I faced at all.

Steel maliciously mused, "How should I get rid of you?"

However, before he could consider a response, a new voice pierced the scene. The voice, which I easily recognized as Ren's said, "You won't kill him before you kill all of us, Steel."


	8. The First Fight

I tried to get back to my feet, and I slowly was trying to recover my furyoku

I tried to get back to my feet, and I slowly was trying to recover my furyoku. As I looked around me again, I saw Steel jump backwards, as if he were preparing for some attack with a gigantic range. Before any of us could track him, he had disappeared behind one of the large rocks that adorned the battlefield in front of us.

Ren mocked Steel, saying, "It figures that he's a coward; he won't even face us. I don't even know if he can even-"

Quickly Ren had to dive to his left to avoid the shuriken aimed at his head. Steel decided to attack from distance, and he used one of the better implements. Hiding his voice somewhat by spreading it out throughout the room, Steel reminded us, "Don't you dare underestimate me, you foolish shamans, especially you vile Asakuras."

Realizing the brunt of his message in an instant, Ryu was able to save Ren from a fatal attack. Quickly placing Tokagero into his sword, Ryu knocked down the returning shuriken, effectively knocking it towards one of the rocks Steel could have been hiding behind. Even when it was somewhat weakened by that attack, the shuriken was able to saw the large boulder in half.

"That's why you've got to watch your back, Ren," Ryu warned him, while showing affection in his silly "manly" way. "You owe me one."

Ren growled a moment, but then he got back to the business at hand. We all knew that Steel was hiding behind one of the rocks, but if that shuriken came back, it could mean the end for any of us. Quickly, everyone but me made sure that they had their respective spirits in their respective mediums. The only reason I hadn't put Amidamaru to good use was that I was still recovering from my initial fighting.

Again, Steel taunted us from an unknown location. He mocked, "That paltry amount of furyoku is not enough to take me down, fools."

Trying difficultly to maintain his composure, Ren caught a glimpse of where he thought Steel might be. Yelling as he unleashed a bolt of lightning (from his Bushin Fish Fin) at the location, he said, "I have you now, Steel!"

As the blast struck the rock, I was able to catch the fleeting image of something from behind the rock. Apparently, Steel's attempts at hiding behind the various rocks weren't good enough to fool Ren enough. But man, was he fast. He was able to get from behind that rock to another hiding spot within the slightest fraction of a second. If I hadn't been training with Amidamaru's skill for so long, I would have missed him completely. If we were to have a chance against anything more than his shuriken, we'd definitely have to slow him down some way.

While Steel was fleeing to another location, he quickly unloaded a number of shuriken stars. I quickly yelled, "Get out of the way, guys!" We all threw ourselves to one side or another, and we just managed to avoid the first effect of the stars. However, we weren't as lucky when they made their return course. The stars all seemed to target Lyserg, and he wasn't powerful enough to try and stop all of the shuriken. While he was able to stop all but two or three of them, those two or three were so powerful that the effects of so much furyoku rendered him useless in battle for a pretty long while.

He swore loudly when he took those vicious blows, cursing out Steel and making sure his anger was known. Even though there's usually a sense of resilience when a shaman's angry, Lyserg was too damaged to try and fight again. I tried to calm him down, telling him, "Don't lose your cool so quickly, Lyserg." Trying to be hopeful, I added, "We might need you again in this fight."

I could vaguely hear Steel snicker in the background. We were down one of our more powerful shamans, and we only had Ryu, Ren, Horohoro, Hao and me who could still fight. I'd done enough sitting on the sidelines, as I made sure to put Amidamaru into the most powerful form I knew to put him into. Even with five against one in the fight, Steel thought that he still had a good chance of winning, and I couldn't blame him.

Again, Ren thought he saw Steel, and he yelled, "I've got you this time!" When he fired his lightning strike, he destroyed yet another rock, but Steel was not there. Perhaps Ren's perception wasn't as keen as I thought. Then again, Steel was very fast, and he was able to move a lot more quickly than I first thought.

Coming from behind us, Steel taunted, "No you don't, morons!" From seemingly out of nowhere, Steel pulled a sword out, and (with a spirit already in the weapon itself) he tried to connect with another powerful strike, this one aimed right at his instigator, Ren. However, Ryu again made sure that Steel could not succeed at attacking Ren, as he stepped in the way of the attack, trying to deflect the sword strike with Tokagero. "You fool," Steel spat, "your simple spirit is not enough to deflect my strike."

Steel quickly proved that adage true, as he leapt and slashed cleanly through the powerful sword medium that Ryu had summoned, a form more powerful than the Yamata no Orochi. That was a powerful form in its own, but Steel destroyed it like a hot knife through butter. In another fraction of a second, Steel continued to spread his attack, effectively removing Ren from the fight as well.

By this time, Hao had finally lost his cool, and in a furious rage, he bellowed, "I've had enough of your antics, you Steel Akuma! Spirit of Fire, destroy the rest of these rocks. He's not having any more places to hide." With that command, the Spirit of Fire proceeded to destroy every rock that Steel could hide behind in a smoldering blast of flames.

"When will you learn, fire boy?" Steel scolded. Before anyone knew what hit us, Hao had a shuriken implanted in his back. Though it did not kill him directly (after all, Hao could never really die), that star eliminated him from the fight. However, Hao had eliminated Steel's ability to hide.

I turned to Horohoro, and asked, "Well, what do we have against him?" I was scared out of my mind. If we could turn the tables on Steel a little more, something more suited to the battle of a ninja and a samurai; I would stand a chance against him.

Luckily, Horohoro had a plan up his sleeve, as he told me, "This'll work." He punched the ground with both of his Nipopo gauntlets exclaiming, "FREEZE!" As his powerful ice medium froze the ground and covered it all with a thin sheet of ice. No matter how hard Steel could try, he could no longer run so deceptively.

"Interesting ploy, but do you think that it's enough to defeat me?" Steel was not going to let such a thing defeat him. He continued, "But now, it'll just be me and that filthy Aksakura." Immediately, he fired another shuriken at Horohoro. Since my only remaining ally had just finished his ice coating of the area, he didn't have any time to react. The star had done its damage and had successfully removed him from the battle.

Facing me in the open, Steel said, "So, it's just you and me, scum. Why not surrender now? I'll make your death is quick and painless."

"Steel," I began, "I don't know what you have against me, but if you're going to do so much to my friends, I have no choice but to try and defeat you. If one of us will go down, it'll be you."


	9. Cracking Steel

I had no idea how I would be able to defeat Steel, but I knew that I had to. My friends had tried to help me defeat him; now it was my time to actually do something. But, I had been able to defeat Hao in the past, so I thought I might have a chance against Steel if I fought him well and had a great deal of luck.

His speed was somewhat reduced by the ice, so I didn't worry so much about him sneaking up on me. I was more scared about him killing me with his brute strength. I readied Amidamaru in the most powerful form I could, the White Swan form of my Spirit of Soul, hoping it could turn back some of his attacks.

Before I could think of anything else, he threw more shuriken at me, but I was able to deflect them with Amidamaru's help. However, something didn't seem right, because these shuriken had significantly less power behind them than the last ones.

Amidamaru realized that as soon as I did, and he called out, "Yoh-dono! Quickly, more are coming from behind!"

Reacting quickly, I turned and blocked the next round of shuriken, and these definitely were up to par. From the distance, I heard Steel cursing, and that was all I needed to find his location.

Taking a big risk, I decided to plant the sword into the ground and use it as a sort of catapult to launch me in the general direction of Steel. I knew it would be a risky proposition, but it sure was better than just trying to dodge all of Steel's attacks.

Silently hoping that this technique would work, I shouted, "Steel! I'm coming for you!" In midair, I finally caught sight of him again, and I lunged for him with Amidamaru, yelling out "Take this!"

By sheer luck, my oversoul was just long enough to nip Steel's left arm. He was so surprised by my technique that he didn't really have a chance to block me. I was a little hopeful after this, though I knew that he'd see this kind of thing coming again. Maybe I actually stood a chance against him.

Steel had other plans. He swore loudly at himself and then turned his attention to me. "You!" he seethed. "How dare you. How dare strike me, you filthy Asakura! That's it…you die _now_!"

The malice in his voice was almost enough to get me shaking. I didn't know how I'd deal with this turn of events, but I had to do something quickly. Otherwise, he'd really kill me. I figured that he'd start attacking me again, so I quickly had Amidamaru assume a more defensive position.

I quickly needed that. Steel threw several shuriken past me as he swung manically at me with his sword. I think Steel had completely lost control of himself for a while. It was the first time that either Hao or I had hit him, and it drove him insane. I tried to block his swipes, but they were really difficult to avoid.

Amidamaru quickly warned me about the shuriken making their return course, and I avoided them by diving to the right. I quickly rolled to the right, avoiding another slash. In the same motion, I noticed an opening in Steel's defense, so I tried to swipe upwards as I got back to my feet.

He was too fast for that. He quickly parried the blow and took a chance to strike me across the middle. I flew backwards, defenseless for a moment. Steel took that opportunity to throw more shuriken at me. My reflexes took over, and I was able to swat most of them away. One grazed my right side, and I had a big gash. If it weren't for Anna's training, I would have been dead.

For just one moment, I let myself lie down, at the point of defeat. Steel, sensing victory, regained his composure and slowly walked over to where I was and started taunting me. He said "So, how does it feel to eat dirt like that, scum?"

Gritting my teeth, I asked him, in a mix of anger and frustration, "Why do you hate me?"

He paused for a moment, taken aback, and said, "Excuse me."

"I said," slowly getting to my feet, "why do you hate me?" In the next instant, I swung at him again. This time, I hit him squarely across the chest.

Once again, Steel lost his composure. However, this time he was much more erratic. He yelled "Die, worthless trash!"

Somehow, I was able to continue to dodge every swing. Steel didn't throw any of his shuriken this time. He wanted to kill me right there. After one particularly wild slash, I tried my best to end this fight.

I yelled "Amida-Style: Halo Blade" and unleashed my strongest attack. The defenseless Steel crumpled beneath my strike. In a move that saved his life, he removed his mask and used it to deflect my attack. Instead of piercing his middle, I only managed to cut his side.

Since the battle was over, I stopped using my oversoul technique. I also got a look at Steel's face, and I saw a face crippled with pain. I had hurt him badly, but he'd survive with no problem.

He had black hair and a piercing pair of bright red eyes. I immediately saw why he wore a mask. I bet that people mocked him for them, and it hurt him a lot. My eyes softened as I relaxed, but I saw his start to well up with bitter tears.

I knelt down next to him and offered him a hand. He harshly slapped it away and yelled "Don't you touch me again, filth!"

I took a deep breath and sighed. Then, I told him "Look, you lost the fight, fair and square. So, I want to know something. Why do you hate my family?"

"What do you care, scum?"

I ignored his insult and asked, "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Your great-grandfather killed my grandfather."

I chuckled a bit, trying not to be disrespectful. I said "So, why should that stop us from being friends?"

He shook his head and said "You wouldn't understand. You'd never understand."

Before I could respond, he grabbed his sword and turned it toward himself. "If I can't kill you, I'll still keep my line pure."

I quickly saw that he was about to stab himself, trying to kill himself instead. I grabbed the top of the blade and tore it out of his hands. Then, I threw it away. My hand was pretty bloody as a result, but I didn't care.

Sternly, I told him "No! Nobody deserves to die like that!"

Steel was genuinely shocked by that gesture. He mumbled, "Maybe you're not so bad."

I heard that and smiled. "You know," I told him, "you're not so bad yourself."

I really shocked him with that. I could see that he wasn't a monster, so I forgave him. Anna wasn't hurt, and my other friends had been hurt much worse before. He didn't have it in him to kill, as big and intimidating as he talked.

He gasped and said "What? I just tried to kill you and your entire family. How can you forgive me like that?"

I shrugged and said "Your eyes give you away. You're no devil after all."

"Are…are you trying to make up for your family's cruel murder?"

"No. There's nothing I can do about that. You also know that there's nothing that you can do about it either. So, let's just move on and start over again. Here, I'll help you up."

With that, I extended my hand to him again, and he just stared at it. Then, he took it and I pulled him to his feet. Incredulously, he asked "What are you?"

"I'm Asakura Yoh, and I'm the Shaman King."

Steel paused for a moment before starting to leave.

I could tell that he was having a little trouble getting around, so I grabbed him and helped him outside. I said "My friends might not want to let you go, but you're welcome to stay here."

He shook his head. "I need to think some things out instead."

I told him "I understand. You're welcome back any time. You know, Ren and I started out like this too, but you've come around a lot quicker."

Steel didn't answer me there. He simply kept moving and said "I can make it from here. Thank you for your help."

"Any time."

"Your home should return to normal any time soon."

I smiled and said, "Thanks a lot!"

He simply walked away.

I decided to run inside, and I saw that Steel was right. My home was just like it had been when he blasted Hao over to it. I breathed a sigh of relief at that. It would have been a pain to clean that mess up and turn it back into the inn. After that set in, I rushed over to Anna.

I nudged her a few times and said "Anna! Wake up!"

Groggily, she opened her eyes. She asked, "Yoh, what happened?"

I smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. I took care of Steel."

"Well, where is he?"

"I let him go."

She glared at me for a second and said "What's wrong with you? That man tried to murder me and our child."

I shrugged again and said "I guess he's just not that bad of a guy."

She sighed and said "There's just no living with you."

After that, life went back to normal. I had to stop the others from trying to kill me after letting Steel go, but they settled down eventually. A few months later, Anna and I had our first child. He was a cute little guy, and we named him Hana. Life was pretty great after that, even when he was a bit of a handful.


End file.
